The Astrodome's next incarnation — planetarium? hotel? heap of dynamited rubble? - will be the subject of yet another study ordered up by Harris County Commissioners Court this week.

What to do with the dusty 46-year-old landmark has nagged at county officials even before the Astros left for what is now Minute Maid Park in 1999. How to pay for any proposal has not been far from their minds, either. Even tearing it down would cost tens of millions of dollars.

"We have to make a decision" on the Dome, County Judge Ed Emmett said. "I wanted us to make our decision this year. They're going to look at every option there is and come back with the recommendation. It's about time we do that."

The county will contribute $50,000 toward a $500,000 study, bringing to $100,000 the total the county has spent in the past two years studying what to do with the aging Houston icon.

The study, slated for completion in December, also will plot the future of the entire Reliant Park complex, home to the long-vacant Dome, the Texans' Reliant Stadium, Reliant Center and aging Reliant Arena.

"I think it's good to try to come up with a solid master plan for the Reliant complex, obviously, including the Dome," Commissioner Steve Radack said. "Things are going to turn around in Houston, and we need to be prepared to move forward in the future to do what's necessary to expand our ability to bring in conventions and other organized events."

Three ideas

The county contributed $50,000 to a 2009 review that laid out several options for the Dome. That effort was too preliminary to be considered a "study," said Willie Loston, executive director of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp., which oversees Reliant Park.

The 2009 review suggested three ideas:

Raze the Dome and clean up the site for roughly $78 million, not including the debt the county still holds on the building.

Install a new floor, a planetarium and science, technology, engineering and math center with solar panels on the roof in the form of a world map for a total of $324 million in public funding.

Do all that and add conference space, interactive exhibits to allow users to simulate space travel, an alternative energy center and a movie studio, also for $324 million in public funding.

Those cost estimates need updating, Loston said. Other ideas for the facility have called for it to be converted to a hotel and convention center or a movie studio. Some even suggested it become the Dynamo's home.

Other ideas - such as a "minimalist" approach outlined by Emmett in this year's State of the County address to turn the Dome into an indoor event space - will be studied, along with ideas generated by the study consultants, CSL/Populous.

Empty, but expensive

The county spends about $2.5 million annually on the Dome's debt, plus an estimated $1.7 million in insurance and utility costs, county Financial Services Director Jack Yuran said.

The facility does not have a city occupancy permit. Bringing the facility into full compliance with city codes could cost $30 million, Loston said; covering the bare essentials to make limited use of the building could cost $2 million.

Emmett said he hopes to put a bond election on an option for the Dome to voters next year.

Also studied will be the future of Reliant Arena, the oldest sections of which were built in the 1970s, Loston said.

Maintenance costs there have been accumulating in recent years, he said, with millions spent to repair a bad wall and the roof.

One plan on the table would see the arena razed and the exhibition space lost in the demolition made up as an addition to Reliant Center. A stand-alone arena then would be built nearby.

"I'm glad to see this thing coming to a point where we can offer up some recommendations and make some decisions and move forward," Loston said.